Sleet Provigo traffic

Sleet is a combination of rain and snow, and it was coming down today. I found a ledge to stand under on Sherbrooke on the way back from the office, and made a painting of the Provigo grocery store on the corner of Cavendish, along with traffic in the foreground. Pops of yellow, orange, red, green, blue and turquoise could be seen on the vehicles including a city bus, and car lights reflecting on the wet road. It would have been nice to make more paintings but I had to chicken out due to the steady sleet. Speaking of chicken, I kept smelling rotisserie chicken while standing here, there must be a shop nearby. Montreal is ranked the number one rotisserie chicken city in North America, along with our poutine. 

Sleet Provigo traffic, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Bins train snow

As the after-work commute started to ramp up, I found this scene of my favorite yellow dumpsters, now covered in graffiti, and a passing commuter train. With steady snowfall, usually its a no-go for painting but the snowflakes were large and dry so the painting came out pretty good. In fact, falling snow flakes created a snow-effect on the painting, which was due to melted water of the snowflake creating a small backwash. It was just a fun painting to do, after grinding through the last few days of painting, today windchill was lower and generally more pleasant than before. To paint a scene like this, its important to start the bright colours, so I laid down the yellow, red, and blue, then filled in the brown, grey and black tones. 

Bins train snow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Melt freeze melt freeze ....

Today was another freezing day, although much of the snow had melted a few days ago. In this scene, you see a school in the background, with pine trees and skateboard ramps in the middle ground. I used a little bit of salt in the water, I have two waters with me, one fresh one salt, and mix them as needed. Still looking forward to spring. 

Melt freeze trees, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026

Sitting on the same bench, looking towards the Sports Complex, I did this painting of an interesting pair of pine trees with beds of pine needles on the ground. Its the closest thing to a forest that we have in NDG. The city planted some more trees and a small wetlands area on the corner of the park, which is a cool idea and I will make some painting when it fills in a bit. Overall, it was a good winter with lots of paintings, including some from Brazil! 

Pine trees Sports complex, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Colour Compost

We are big fans of composting, in fact I have a composter on the tiny bit of grass that we call a backyard and use it regularly. By now, its heaped with frozen vegetable and fruit peelings, no meat because that attracts rats and mice. We put the meat and egg shells into a separate bag for the City compost service to pick up. Recently I composted one of my old paintings to see what would happen and sure enough, the 100% rag fiber disintegrated and got absorbed into the soil. So one day when I need to decide what to do with my collection, I know what to do! This painting was a palette cleanser with a compost-inspired colour scheme hence the name. Its on a watercolour paper stock (not cotton fiber) but it would probably still compost just fine. I was keen on painting outside the last few days but with howling winds and frigid chill I decided to wait it out. 

Colour Compost, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, March 2026 

Gas Price

The gas price was well over $1.80 which is a lot in Montreal, its going to cost more to fill up my bicycle. But seriously, its all due somehow to the events in the middle east. In the painting, I show a gas station sign, over on Cavendish and Somerled, with my initials and the year instead of a price. In the background is an eerie glow from the gas station lights, and a green light on the left to provide contrast. The darn paint would just not dry fast enough, so there was some smudging here and there but it makes for quite a striking effect. 

Gas Price, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

Sparkle flowers

 

This painting was at my Parents' place for a long time, now its been up on our fridge for awhile. Cilei really likes it, so I thought to put a scan up on the blog. The sparkle was done by tossing salt crystals in while the paint was semi-moist, which sucks up the water leaving a starburst effect. I made a series of such paintings but with dark black outlines, this one was a bit softer. It was done around 1999 to my recollection, my idea was to bring these to an art show in a park and sell some, but I never did make any sales that way. I sold several abstract paintings through the art gallery, and the art commune shop in London Ontario. 

Sparkle flowers, watercolour 4 x 6" cold press, 1999

Fresh layer of snow, under the weather

I bought a cheap DVD player to take advantage of the DVD collection they have at the local Cultural Center and Library. Lots of Zombies so far! Today I was feeling a little under the weather on the tail end of a cold, but got out there, and also made a few paintings while it snowed. I found a sheltered spot to stand across the street under the front overhang of the Sports Complex. With snow overhead you could say I was under the weather. Get it? I was sick, and standing under the snow, under the weather times two. To make this painting, I had to paint around all the snow highlights. It was tricky brushwork but at least I can wear my wool mitts instead of deerskin gauntlets which offered a bit more dexterity. 

Snow covered trees Cultural Center, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026 

You also get a sense of the incredible facilities we are lucky to have on this former location which was Benny Farm. This scene shows a medical center, they call them CLSC, with snow-covered pine trees in the foreground. Up in the background are the two massive apartment buildings on Sherbrooke, quite a few of my graduate students have rented apartments there as they live in Montreal. Unfortunately it will be difficult to bring in more international graduate students this year, although a Canadian graduate student applied and might get an admission offer soon. In other news, I am close to making a website for my immunology research laboratory, but no promises on when it will happen! 

Medical Center snow covered pine trees, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, March 2026